Jannik Sinner and Madison Keys return to Australian Open 2026 as defending champions on Tuesday and will be anticipating that work on their game in the off-season pays off.
MORE: All the results from AO 2026
Both have tweaked aspects of their respective techniques, intent on delivering maximum results at Melbourne Park once again this year.
Sinner, 24, faces Frenchman Hugo Gaston rested, having opted against competing in any of the lead-in tournaments in Australia's Summer of Tennis. The four-time major winner has spent time over the break working on his transition to the net and tweaking his serve.
“All small details,” the Italian said.
“I would say the first matches you try to get used to that match feeling again, and then after you try to add something. We see what conditions we play in.”
MORE: AO 2026 men's and women's singles draws
Sinner is not only accustomed to winning at the Australian Open but also defending his title here, which is a new concept for Keys following her upset triumph over Aryna Sabalenka last year.
The American will enter AO 2026 on the back of the Brisbane International, where she faced Sabalenka in the quarterfinals, losing in straight sets. Keys, like Sinner, has worked on refining her game.
“One of my big goals this year is to force myself to be a little bit uncomfortable on court and try to actually implement some of the things we're working on, as uncomfortable as those are in those big moments,” she said.
“I'm really trying to push myself to evolve and add more things to my game. That's really just been my goal all off-season, is trying to learn new things. Then now the hard part of actually putting them in matches.”
Even though the 30-year-old is a seasoned campaigner, last year’s victory at Rod Laver Arena was her first major, and coming into AO 2026 as defending champion will be a new experience that will start with a first-round match against Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova.
“I'm really trying to change my perspective on the pressure. Even though I've been on tour for a long time, this is also still my first experience as that,” Keys said.
“I'm trying to embrace that and soak it in, because I feel like so often, we look back and we regret that, even in the hard moments that were stressful and pressure and all that, we didn't find all the fun parts of it,” she continued.
READ: Defending AO champion Keys aiming to be 'a little bit uncomfortable'
“I'm really just trying to soak in all of the really cool, fun parts, like walking in and seeing a picture of me holding the trophy. I could never have dreamed of that happening.
“I'm sure going on court I'm going to be very nervous, but I don't think I've ever walked on court first round of a Grand Slam and not been nervous, so ... I'm really just excited for another new experience at this point of my career.”
Sinner, conversely, has been the hunter and the hunted and when it comes to the men’s singles draw, much of the focus has been on his rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz.
The pair recently played in an exhibition match in South Korea, which Alcaraz won, although Sinner was quick to emphasise that the exhibition environment cannot be compared with a Grand Slam.
“It’s not only for one specific player,” he said when asked if his marginal gains were designed solely to combat his Spanish opponent, who has also been refining his serve.
“If you add something to your game the aim is to get better as a tennis player," he added.
"It’s about feeling comfortable in every situation. That’s what we tried to do in the off-season. We worked a lot physically. The physical part now is so, so important because the matches, they can get very long but also very intense.
“The tennis now, it’s very fast. You have to be at the top physical level as long as you can. Also, the mental ability to stay there always, it's going to be very important.”
AO 2026 has already attracted record crowds, and the defending champions are not the sole attractions on Tuesday.
Nineteen-year-old Joao Fonseca, who opens his 2026 campaign facing American Eliot Spizzirri, has his own travelling fanbase that last season resulted in organisers moving him to bigger stadiums to accommodate it.
The Brazilian teen sensation is one of several emerging players putting tennis on the map in all corners of the globe.
READ: The young players energising new fanbases worldwide
No.8 seed Ben Shelton, who reached the semifinals here last year, will be in action against Ugo Humbert.
Women’s No. 5 seed Elena Rybakina, who took the title at the 2025 season-ending WTA Finals where she beat Aryna Sabalenka, will go up against Slovenian Kaja Juvan.